Election 2016 Scorecard

As Election Day approaches, we aren’t seeing the intense political pressure on television and radio inventory we experienced in 2012, at least in the Pacific Northwest.

For most of the campaign, Donald Trump has eschewed traditional media outlets in favor of social media. The Republican nominee’s campaign had recently placed orders with broadcast outlets in key states and markets but now the word comes that many of those buys have been cancelled.

One interesting strategy that many campaigns and Political Action Committees, or PACs, have employed this political season is the use of “big data” to identify cable zones that they can overlay with voter mapping. Some political advertisers are moving away from the traditional prime time and news programming into smaller, more targeted cable networks, programs and day parts. Fox News, CNN and ESPN still dominate, but networks like HGTV and the Food Network have moved into the top 10 nationally, as campaigns seek younger female voters.

This is just another example of how the 2016 election is like no other.